Ireland hand senior debuts to two Super Eagles-eligible players in emphatic win over Grenada

The Football Association of Ireland have made concrete moves to beat the Nigeria Football Federation to the international allegiance of two promising players of Nigerian descent, allnigeriasoccer.com reports.

Saturday's friendly against Grenada provided Ireland head coach Heimir Hallgrímsson with an opportunity to further integrate emerging talent into the senior national team setup.

He handed senior debuts to Crystal Palace defender Tayo Adaramola and Oxford United forward Aidomo Emakhu as the Boys in Green recorded an emphatic 5–0 victory over Grenada at the Estadio Enrique Roca.

Two other players of Nigerian heritage already cap-tied to the Republic of Ireland—Chiedozie Ogbene and Adam Idah—also featured in the friendly.

Ireland held a warm-weather training camp in Spain last week, with the squad largely comprising players currently out of season or not involved in playoff commitments.

Meanwhile, a third Super Eagles-eligible player, Benfica forward Jayden Umen, was initially included in the training camp squad but withdrew due to club commitments.

Both Emakhu and Adaramola are provisionally cap-tied to the Republic of Ireland through competitive appearances for the youth teams and would require Fifa approval to switch sporting nationality should they opt to represent the Super Eagles in the future.

Elsewhere, the Nigeria Football Federation are believed to nailed-on favourites to win the recruitment battle for Plymouth Argyle forward Owen Oseni, with the Irish-born attacker already earning a call-up for the 2026 Unity Cup at the Valley.